Objects Unencapsulated: Java, Eiffel, and C++ (Object and Component Technology) [Textbook Binding]

Ian Joyner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 16, 1999 | Series: Object and Component Technology

1426J-2 Object technology appears to be a bewildering field in constant turmoil. But the core concepts of object-oriented programming endure as a paradigm for advanced programming methodology. By analyzing and comparing three different object-oriented languages, Objects Unencapsulated probes the core of object technology to examine how various language features affect software productivity. Objects Unencapsulated examines and compares the strengths and weaknesses of Java, Eiffel, and C++. Topics covered include: *Objects, classes, modules, and types. *Features and interfaces. *Inheritance and genericity. *Concurrency and garbage collection. Grounded by his belief that true innovation demands constant re-evaluation, Ian Joyner strips away the superficial distinctions between these languages to find the essence of object-oriented programming. He explains the facts behind the many controversies that an object-oriented practitioner constantly faces. By explaining some essential theory in practical terms, Objects Unencapsulated exposes the principles of the object-oriented paradigm.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Object technology appears to be a bewildering field in constant turmoil. But the core concepts of object-oriented programming endure as a paradigm for advanced programming methodology. By analyzing and comparing three different object-oriented languages, Objects Unencapsulated probes the core of object technology to examine how various language features affect software productivity.

Objects Unencapsulated examines and compares the strengths and weaknesses of Java, Eiffel, and C++. Topics covered include:

• Objects, classes, modules, and types.
• Features and interfaces.
• Inheritance and genericity.
• Concurrency and garbage collection.

Grounded by his belief that true innovation demands constant re-evaluation, Ian Joyner strips away the superficial distinctions between these languages to find the essence of object-oriented programming. He explains the facts behind the many controversies that an object-oriented practitioner constantly faces. By explaining some essential theory in practical terms, Objects Unencapsulated exposes the principles of the object-oriented paradigm.

About the Author

Ian Joyner is a member to the Object Technology Group at the Microsoft Research Institute at Macquarie University in Australia. He has been practicing-and critiquing-object-oriented software since 1979.

Product Details

• Textbook Binding: 416 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall PTR; 1st edition (June 16, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0130142697
• ISBN-13: 978-0130142696
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,261,796 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, thougthful analysis; misleading description, October 11, 1999

By 

Forrest L. Norvell (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Objects Unencapsulated: Java, Eiffel, and C++ (Object and Component Technology) (Textbook Binding)

I'm midway through this book, and thoroughly enjoying it. Joyner has a clear and accessible writing style, and the content is obviously well-researched and thorough. That, however, is my main problem with the book -- its core grows out of a paper of Joyner's on weaknesses in C++ and the resulting book, while still excellent, follows from that mindset. The book sometimes feels not so much like a comparision between C++, Java, and Eiffel, but rather an exhortation to avoid C++'s misfeatures (and, to a lesser extent, Java's), and instead use Eiffel. While the author makes an admirable case for Eiffel, this isn't why I bought the book, and the non-critical treatment that Eiffel receives undercuts the overall strength of the book -- no programming language is perfect, and if what Joyner really wants is better language tools and better language design, he owes it to himself and his audience to treat the objects of his comparison equally.

All that said, the book is well-organized, even the most loaded statements Joyner makes are thought-provoking, and its approach is unique. If you're willing to keep your critical thinking filters on and stay engaged with the book instead of being a passive reader, blindly trusting the author, you'll get a lot out of it.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderfully thorough, useful critical comparison, January 5, 2000

By 

Ed Love "Writer, Director, Producer, Editor, ... (Perth, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Objects Unencapsulated: Java, Eiffel, and C++ (Object and Component Technology) (Textbook Binding)

Coming from a Unix/C background, I was at first a little wary of such a scathing criticism of C++. However, after letting go of my initial caution, I was amazed at how many problematic areas of the language existed. This book really does get down to what's really important in an OO programming language, and discusses the +ves and -ves of each language in great depth.

Even though a great deal of positive attention is given to Eiffel, I do not think this comes from bias: I think that it's a natural reaction to studying the language with an open mind. After reading up on Eiffel on the net, and wallowing in Bertrand Meyer's incredibly lucid book 'Object Oriented Software Construction', I was totally blown away with the design of Eiffel. It really does seem (IMHO) to be far and away the most comprehensive OO language available today. While no language is perfect, it is a quantum leap ahead of both Java and C++ in too many areas to mention.

If you're willing to come to this book without emotional attachment to any particular language, you'll find yourself on a wonderful adventure exploring an amazing (relatively) new OO language which is designed from scratch without compromise to be a bullet proof way of constructing top quality reliable, reusable, maintainable, functional software, from initial analysis and design, all the way to implementation and subsequent maintenance and extension.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Wordy, somewhat superfluous, but still informative, October 13, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Objects Unencapsulated: Java, Eiffel, and C++ (Object and Component Technology) (Textbook Binding)

I bought this book to help designing a C like language. But I was disappointed by the content because it does not bear too much useful information.

Most of the critics and comparisions are already well known. Nothing novel.

The book is more like a handy memo of the language features and good/bad tags than a serious study of the trade-offs and concerns (theoretical and practical)

Some comparisions are biased or even superfluous. The author tried to put everybody's feet into Eiffel's designer's shoes. Many of the practical concerns of C/C++/Java were intentionally or unintentionally ignored. That, in my opinion, undermines the book's objectiveness a lot.

Overall, this book is not good for beginners who want to learn C,C++,Java or Eiffel¡£It is just not written as a tutorial or textbook.

On the other hand, it is not of much value for serious language researchers either, in either academic or practical sense.